Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy, Auto Rally, 15th and Broadway, East St. Louis, IL

October 3, 1960

Senator KENNEDY. Thank you. Here is Paul Douglas, a great Democrat, and here is the next United States Senator and the present Senator. And Otto Kerner, the candidate for Governor on the Democratic ticket, and your own Mel Price, the candidate who will be elected. I am a candidate for the office of the Presidency, and the Presidency is a key office. If the people's interest is going to be protected, the President of the United States must stand for that protection. It is the President of the United States that can set the goals for the country in housing, minimum wage, social security, unemployment compensation, and in equality of rights for all Americans, regardless of their race or color. I stand in direct succession to Truman and Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, who advanced the right of all Americans to participate equally in our society. I can assure you that if I am successful on this occasion, the same spirit will move us, the same spirit forward. We ask your help in this Campaign. [Applause.]

Citation:John F. Kennedy: "Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy, Auto Rally, 15th and Broadway, East St. Louis, IL", October 3, 1960. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25948.